Spontaneous 18-Hour Round Trip?

Two and a half weeks ago I, along with everyone else in our class, received an invite from one of my SLI classmates asking if anyone wanted to serve at this year's SLI Graduation night, which was this past weekend.   The idea of going to serve at that event got me quite excited, and I replied back saying it was possible I would be able to make it for Saturday afternoon/evening to serve.    I thought this could be possible for several reasons, 1) I enjoy driving, 2) I was about to have a great car (this was before I bought my car) with wonderful fuel economy, therefore I'd be able to make the trip a lot cheaper, and 3) to serve there, and to be with Canadian friends and family excited me.  However, much to my great disappointment, I felt God saying "no" to going.  I relented for a while, and kept pushing and asking, hoping that God would give me the okay to go, I even set up with my aunt Laura Baxter my housing for that weekend, but He never gave me what I was looking for.  Finally I couldn't relent any longer, and I submitted to God and confirmed that I wasn't going to go.  I told Laura I wasn't coming and left it at that.   

The way God works, leads, and directs and or answers, in the moment of asking, can be so mysterious.   I did not understand why I couldn't go.   But He saw things that I couldn't see at the time, and directed me the best route knowing what all would happen.   First I found out that my cousin up there gave birth to her second baby, Leo, five weeks early.   Knowing that bit of info (via my mom) it became more clear that that week/weekend may be quite a bit busy for the Baxter's, and me being there could have added more stress.    Secondly, once a handful of friends found out that I potentially was going to be up there, they all wanted to plan hangouts.   But hanging out with friends wasn't my purpose in wanting to be there - yes I want to hang out with them, but that wasn't my primary purpose.  And knowing my limited time there (less than 24 hours) that started to build a great stress about the trip.  So deciding not to go was almost a release.  As my mom put it, if I'm going to make the trip to Canada, go on a long weekend so I can have time with friends and family.    

Thirdly, my car.   When planning this trip (leave Saturday morning and return Sunday evening (I worked Friday till 5pm and also Monday at 8am)), I was planning on having a great car with great MPG and no problems.   However, with my car having break problems and such, I now the the benefit of not going.     At this point, I do still feel that my car is safe to drive, but I also feel that I would not be comfortable taking it on a long trip until the breaks get worked on (I have another appointment at the Toyota Dealership on Friday).   

Looking back at all of this, though it was sad to not make the spontaneous trip to Canada last weekend, I am grateful that God directed me based off of this knowledge that I had no idea about at the time.   Thank you God!    He is so, so, so good, all the time!